NEW INC And Kill Screen 'Face Reality' At Versions 2017

NEW INC and Kill Screen hosted their second annual Versions conference on virtual, mixed, and augmented reality at the New Museum from February 25–26. The weekend-long affair, which boasted a lineup of star-studded panels, interactive demos, and hands-on workshops for veterans and newcomers alike, focused its lens on Facing Reality, which the event's curatorial statement describes as "taking a frank look at the current pitfalls, design gaps, and technological limitations of these emerging tools."

From the New Museum's director, Lisa Phillips, to Her Excellency Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the guests in attendance this year convened for a critically-acclaimed production that Hyperallergic's Michael Blum characterized as "encouraging a more sober, productive, and critical probing of the [industry's] cultural landscape...one in which new directions are explored to the fullest and most experimental degree while a dedicated ethical commitment is maintained in full view."

The conference's aim to consider the industry beyond its technical and financial possibilities is, after all, the distinguishing foundation on which Versions was founded. As NEW INC director Julia Kaganskiy noted in her opening address with Kill Screen founder Jamin Warren: "Facing reality is important because we can't get to where we're going unless we start with where we are right now."